European patent organization
The European Patent Organization ( EPO ) is an intergovernmental organization with headquarters in Munich , by the European Patent Convention was created (EPC).
Organs and duties
The legal basis of the European Patent Organization are Articles 4–7 EPC. In Art. 4 , the organs of the organization are set:
- the European Patent Office (EPO) and
- the board of directors .
The organization has the task of granting European patents according to the EPC. This task is carried out by the European Patent Office (EPO) and monitored by the Administrative Board. The Administrative Council also has the power ( Art. 33 EPC ) to amend the Implementing Regulations, the Schedule of Fees and, since the introduction of the EPC 2000 in December 2007, also some articles of the EPC.
The European Patent Organization is not an institution of the EU , but a legal person that has become independent under international law and to which sovereign rights are transferred. Its member states are the contracting states of the EPC . For a long time (until Malta's accession to the EPC in 2007) not even all EU member states were contracting states to the EPC. As of June 2012, the EPC had ten non-EU members, including Switzerland and Turkey .
European Patent Office
The most important body of the EPO is the European Patent Office ( EPO ), whose task is to examine and grant European patents . The office opened on November 1, 1977. The first patent application was registered on June 1, 1978.
The EPO is also based in Munich and has offices in Rijswijk (near The Hague ), Berlin and Vienna and a liaison office in Brussels .
Service building
EPO, Munich, Grasserstraße
EPA, Kurt-Haertel -Passage
EPO office in Berlin
| Location | designation | address | architecture | construction time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Munich | Isar building | Bob-van-Benthem-Platz 1, (formerly Erhardtstrasse 27), 80469 Munich | Gerkan, Marg and Partner | 1975-1979 |
| Pschorr courtyard building | Bayerstraße 34, 80335 Munich (also Grasserstraße) | Ackermann and Partner | 2005-2008 | |
| Capitellum building | Landsberger Strasse 30, 80339 Munich | SIAT architects | ||
| The hague | Tower and Hinge building "The Hinge" | Patentlaan 2, 2288 EE Rijswijk | ||
| Shell building | Patentlaan 3-9, 2288 EE Rijswijk | |||
| Rijsvoort building | Visseringlaan 19-23, 2288 ER Rijswijk | |||
| Office building "Le Croisé" | Verrijn Stuartlaan 2a, 2288 EE Rijswijk | |||
| Berlin | Gitschiner Strasse 103, 10969 Berlin | Hermann Solf and Franz Wichards | 1903-1905 | |
| Vienna | Rennweg 12, 1030 Vienna | Auböck + Kárász (landscape architecture) | ||
| Brussels | Av. de Cortenbergh, 60, 1000 Brussels |
A new service building was inaugurated in The Hague in July 2018.
President of the European Patent Office
The European Patent Office is headed by a President. Previous incumbents were:
- Johannes Bob van Benthem ( Netherlands ) October 19, 1977 - April 30, 1985
- Paul Braendli ( Switzerland ) May 1, 1985 - December 31, 1995
- Ingo Kober ( Germany ) January 1, 1996 - June 30, 2004
- Alain Pompidou ( France ) July 1, 2004 - June 30, 2007
- Alison Brimelow ( UK ) July 1, 2007 - June 30, 2010
- Benoit Battistelli ( France ) July 1, 2010 - June 30, 2018
- António Campinos ( Portugal ) since July 1, 2018
financing
The EPO finances itself from the space occupied by the EPO procedural fees and from the annual fees for patent applications pending. However, once a European patent has been granted, the renewal fees are paid by the patent owners to the national patent offices of the countries in which these patents were validated ( Art. 86 and Art. 141 EPC). Only a part of these renewal fees has to be returned by the member states to the EPO for financing. In 2009, this share amounted to around 300 million euros , half of the 600 million euros in annual fees that the contracting states collect for granted European patents. Traditionally, annual fees for applications and patents make up the largest share of the EPO's fee budget of around one billion euros annually.
staff
The European Patent Office employs 6,800 people who are nationals of the Member States and who, depending on their rank , have to speak one, two or all three of the official languages of German , English and French . Around 71% of employees have a university degree (mainly scientists, engineers and lawyers). Approx. 58% of the staff are examiners, all of whom have a university degree.
Around 3,900 employees work in Munich, around 2,900 in The Hague (in the suburb of Rijswijk), around 290 in Berlin, around 110 in Vienna and four in Brussels (as of the end of 2012).
Organs in the proceedings before the European Patent Office
The following departments are responsible for proceedings before the European Patent Office ( Art. 15 EPC ):
- an entry point for the incoming and formal examination of submitted patent applications ,
- Opposition departments that deal with oppositions against granted patents,
- Decisions on requests for review in the event of serious procedural deficiencies in the appeal proceedings (bias of a chamber member, false statement),
- Decisions on legal issues referred to it by the boards of appeal,
- an Enlarged Board of Appeal, which decides on legal questions and requests for review in the event of serious procedural deficiencies in the appeal proceedings,
- Examination departments for the substantive examination of registrations and the decision on grant or rejection ,
- Search departments that prepare the search reports on the applications,
- a legal department as well
- 28 technical and one legal board of appeal (s) dealing with appeals against decisions of the patent office.
The Boards of Appeal of the European Patent Office are treated like courts and enjoy a certain independence. For example, members of the Boards of Appeal B. not bound by instructions from the President of the European Patent Office ( Art. 23 EPC ). The Enlarged Board of Appeal is not a further instance after a Board of Appeal, although the EPC 2000 created a possibility of review. The Enlarged Board of Appeal is also responsible for issuing opinions on legal questions submitted to it by the President of the European Patent Office ( Art. 22 EPC ).
European patents
According to the centralized procedure, European patents are granted with effect for the designated contracting and extension states. Anyone can file an objection to the grant at the European Patent Office within nine months of the publication of the reference to the grant of a patent. In opposition proceedings, the EPO checks the patent division to determine whether the grant needs to be revoked, taking into account the opponent's submissions. Ultimately, opposition proceedings can lead to the limitation or revocation of the patent. A European patent corresponds to a bundle of national patents and is treated as such. Questions about the infringement or invalidity of European patents therefore fall under the national jurisdiction of the respective contracting state, so they may have to be brought to court individually in several contracting states.
European patent with unitary effect
In addition, a European patent with unitary effect is in preparation, which will be implemented in the EU. The aim is to create uniform patent protection and centralized legal proceedings for infringement and nullity proceedings for the entire EU. The European patent with unitary effect will not be valid in the EPC states that are not in the EU and in a few EU states that do not want to participate. Here it stays with the "classic" European patent.
Formally, the Unified European Patent will be constructed as a previous type of European patent that is effective for a specific country and is to be granted by the European Patent Office in accordance with the previous rules. However, the “country” for which this patent takes effect is now EU territory. The European patent with unitary effect offers unitary protection in accordance with EU Regulation No. 1257/2012 and has the same effect in all participating member states. Another regulation concerns the applicable translation regulations.
The EU regulations are supplemented by an agreement on a unified patent court , which was signed by 25 EU member states on February 19, 2013. With the exception of Spain, Poland and Croatia, all EU states have now signed the agreement. The Convention created international chambers for nullity and infringement proceedings as well as appellate bodies, each with judges from at least two contracting states. The Unified Patent Court comprises a court of first instance and an appeal court. The Court of First Instance consists of a central chamber (with seat in Paris and two branches in London and Munich) as well as several local and regional chambers in the contracting states. The court of appeal will have its seat in Luxembourg. The special feature of the German Federal Patent Court, which has technical judges (with an academic degree in the technical field affected by the patent), was partially adopted. At the central division of the court of first instance and at the court of appeal, the panel is made up of technically qualified judges in addition to lawyers; In the local or regional chambers, a technically qualified judge is only called in on request.
The two EU regulations came into force on January 20, 2013. They apply from the day on which the Convention on a Unified Patent Court enters into force. It has to be ratified by at least 13 countries, including Germany , France and the United Kingdom . On June 3, 2016, Bulgaria became the tenth country to ratify ; Germany and the United Kingdom had not yet ratified at this point.
European inventor award
The European Patent Organization awards the European Inventor Award every year .
Board of Directors
The EPO is supervised by an Administrative Council, which is the second body of the EPO and consists of representatives and their deputies sent by the contracting states ( Article 26 (1) EPC ). These country representatives on the EPO Administrative Council are in most cases also directors of the national patent offices of their home country. This amalgamation of offices is viewed critically by representatives from business, science and the international trade union in the European Patent Office (IGEPA).
The Belgian economist Professor Bruno van Pottelsberghe , member of the European think tank BRUEGEL , criticizes the supremacy of the national patent offices on the EPO administrative board. He suggests including representatives from politics, business and science on the Board of Directors and giving them a voice. In a model designed by Pottelberghe, the EPO's Administrative Board is composed of representatives from national patent offices as well as other relevant interest groups. This includes large industrial companies, small and medium-sized companies, patent attorneys, scientists, research universities, politicians and consumer organizations.
Ministerial Conference
A ministerial conference must meet at least every five years (Art. 4a EPC) . This article was inserted by the revision file EPC 2000, which came into force on December 13, 2007 (Federal Law Gazette I 2007 No. 45, September 5, 2007, p. 2166). Such a ministerial conference should have taken place on December 13, 2012 at the latest. But that has not happened so far.
Member states
| Member state | since |
|---|---|
| Albania | May 1, 2010 |
| Austria | May 1, 1979 |
| Belgium | 7th October 1977 |
| Bulgaria | July 1, 2002 |
| Switzerland | 7th October 1977 |
| Cyprus | April 1, 1998 |
| Czech Republic | July 1, 2002 |
| Germany | 7th October 1977 |
| Denmark | January 1, 1990 |
| Estonia | July 1, 2002 |
| Spain | October 1, 1986 |
| Finland | March 1, 1996 |
| France | 7th October 1977 |
| United Kingdom | 7th October 1977 |
| Greece | October 1, 1986 |
| Hungary | Jan. 1, 2003 |
| Croatia | January 1, 2008 |
| Ireland | August 1, 1992 |
| Iceland | November 1, 2004 |
| Italy | December 1, 1978 |
| Liechtenstein | April 1, 1980 |
| Lithuania | December 1, 2004 |
| Luxembourg | 7th October 1977 |
| Latvia | July 1, 2005 |
| Monaco | 1st December 1991 |
| Malta | March 1, 2007 |
| Netherlands | 7th October 1977 |
| North Macedonia | January 1, 2009 |
| Norway | January 1, 2008 |
| Poland | March 1, 2004 |
| Portugal | January 1, 1992 |
| Romania | March 1, 2003 |
| Serbia | October 1, 2010 |
| Sweden | May 1, 1978 |
| Slovenia | December 1, 2002 |
| Slovakia | July 1, 2002 |
| San Marino | July 1, 2009 |
| Turkey | November 1, 2000 |
See also
- Espacenet
- Europe
- European patent
- European Patent Convention (EPC), and the Convention on the Grant of European Patents called
- patent
- Patent research
- Software patent
Web links
- epo.org
- Rudolf Kraßer: European Patent Office (EPA) . In: Historical Lexicon of Bavaria
- EPA Workers Union: suepo.org
- espacenet.com worldwide.espacenet.com: Patent research
- Deutschlandfunk.de , background , March 6, 2016, Irene Esmann, Jutta Henkel: European Patent Office. Labor law does not apply here
Individual evidence
- ↑ in English: European Patent Office, also with the abbreviation EPO, which can lead to confusion with the organization.
- ^ Federal Court of Justice, judgment of July 12, 2005, Az .: X ZR 29/05 . Admody Lawyers Public Company. Retrieved May 24, 2017.
- ↑ 2004 www.bpb.de
- ↑ http://www.gmp-architekten.de/projekte/europaeisches-patentamt.html
- ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from July 7, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ http://www.auboeck-karasz.at/portfolio/worksites/epa.htm ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ https://www.epo.org/about-us/services-and-activities/building_de.html
- ^ Singer, Stauder: Commentary on the European Patent Convention. 5th edition, Appendix 5 - Schedule of Fees, Art. 2 RFees, Paragraph 62.
- ↑ ( Page no longer available , search in web archives: facts and figures )
- ↑ Annual reports 2004 to 2009
- ↑ https://www.epo.org/about-us/boards-of-appeal_de.html
- ↑ EU Regulation No. 1257/2012 (PDF)
- ↑ Agreement on a Unified Patent Court ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Uniform patent litigation system ( memento of the original from February 24, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Agreement. European Council, accessed July 30, 2016 .
- ↑ European Inventor Award
- ↑ Art. 4 para. 3 EPC
- ^ "Lost property - The European patent system and why it doesn't work" , page 46
